That focus--and a strategy that combines business sense with a heart of ministry--has allowed the 35-year-old community to thrive over the years in an industry that often makes headlines for failing to successfully provide care.

"This is a ministry, but one that has to be operated like a business," says president Peter Dys. "We don't want to simply comply with regulations. We meet and exceed the regulations and the expectations of the residents and their families."

In 1968, Fort Myers developer Berry C. Williams donated a 75-acre island near Sanibel to the Christian and Ministry Alliance, based in Colorado. The Protestant group turned the picturesque site where the Caloosahatchee River empties into the Gulf of Mexico into the state's largest lifecare community. Its services, according to Money magazine, rival those found on luxury cruise ships.

It hasn't all been smooth sailing, however. After Shell Point's promising start, high unemployment, double-digit inflation and record high interest rates plunged the nation into a recession in the late 1970s and caused many people to delay retirement, lowering occupancy rates at Shell Point and other retirement communities, The board's conservative fiscal approach allowed it to weather the recession; and, as the nation recovered, Shell Point's occupancy rates rose. Today the development boasts an occupancy rate of 97 percent, compared to the industry average of 93 to 95 percent.

Over the years, the minimum age of residents has dropped from 65 to 60, reflecting increases in early retirement. The costs to buy a home in the community are a one-time fee ranging from $78,000 to $350,000 and a monthly fee ranging from $750 to $3,000. Both fees are determined by the size of the home. The monthly fee includes all utilities and services with the exception of a golf membership and food and phone expenses. While the monthly fee increases annually, it hasn't risen as fast as the cost-of-living index.

People choosing a home at Shell Point are buying an active lifestyle coupled with insurance that guarantees them long-term care. They're not buying real estate that will appreciate in value like a house or condominium. Instead, explains Shell Point management, they're paying for the rest of their future health-care needs with today's dollars.

Activities for residents cover the gamut of education, recreation, social, cultural and spiritual opportunities. There are deep-water docks with Gulf access, an 18-hole championship golf course, a church, library, two health clubs, three swimming pools, lighted tennis and shuffleboard courts, a full-time activities staff, individual garden plots, two computer centers with T1 Internet access, walking trails and bike paths. Every 10 years, units are redecorated with fresh paint and new fixtures.

Shell Point feels like a country club, says Doug Bareis, director of support services for Broadmead Retirement Community in Hunt Valley, Md. As team leader of the Continuing Care Accreditation Commission, he's visited hundreds of similar developments. "It's a good, quality organization with exceptional leadership and an exceptional board," he says. "The board and management are a very strong team that will continue to be a success."

Shell Point has been recognized for its excellence in retirement living by a long list of national organizations and publications. The community's size--and the staff of more than 550 that helps operate the nonprofit ministry--makes it one of the 25 largest employers in Lee County. Employees include four staff physicians, two pharmacists, a neuropsychologist and other medical personnel. Shell Point is also partnering with Hope Hospice of Lee County to start a hospice program at its skilled nursing center and has received an $18,000 grant from The Southwest Florida Community Foundation to help fund the program.

A $750-million expansion project under way will provide homes for more than double the current population of 1,750. In 1997, Shell Point purchased more than 700 acres of adjacent property along both sides of Shell Point Boulevard, just 1.6 miles from the Sanibel Causeway, allowing the community to enlarge and enhance the services offered on the island campus. Planning began immediately to develop approximately 300 acres, leaving the remaining acreage as protected natural environment, which has been restored and donated to the state as a permanent natural preserve. The expansion is expected to generate an estimated $1 billion to the local economy and to create 2,000 jobs.

The first phase is The Woodlands at Shell Point. Three residential buildings have been constructed and occupied, and a fourth is under development. As for the first three buildings, pre-sales for Parkwood, the fourth residential building, are brisk. The Woodlands features a 25,000-square-foot community center called The Commons centered along a large lake and surrounded by walking paths. Residents of The Woodlands have access to all Shell Point amenities.

A new commercial center at the intersection of Summerlin Road and Shell Point Boulevard is home to Country Inn & Suites, with 112 rooms and conference space.

But every acre of property won't be covered with buildings, Dys says. "We pay a lot of attention to integrating the natural environment in which we live as part of the lifestyle," he says.

About half of the community's new residents come from Lee County, 35 percent from out-of-state, primarily the Midwest and Northeast, and the remaining 15 percent from elsewhere in Florida.

Special events draw 4,000 to 5,000 visitors, says David Moreland, vice president of marketing. Many new residents come because of their friends or relatives. And it's also not uncommon for children of early residents, having reached retirement age themselves, to move to Shell Point. In addition, Shell Point advertises in publications and on television.

As a large community, Shell Point can afford to provide many services that a smaller organization can't. "Even in our construction, we spend more than we have to," says Dys. "We aren't in the business of selling real estate. We have to maintain what we build."